The first trailer for the highly anticipated FX short series, American Crime Story: The People v. O.J. Simpson was released. The show is about the 1995 murder trial where O.J. Simpson was controversially acquitted for the murders of his ex-wife Nicole Brown and Ronald Goldman.
The show is based on the book “The Run of His Life: The People v. O.J. Simpson” by Jeffrey Toobin. The show will also explore what potentially happened behind-the-scenes on both sides of the court. In addition, it will dive into how overconfidence in terms of prosecution, defense astuteness and LA’s police department’s history with local African-Americans played a role in the jury coming to a conclusion that there was reasonable doubt. Ultimately, being what was needed to find Simpson not guilty.
FX has enlisted an all-star cast to retell the infamous story of the trial. Actor Cuba Gooding Jr. is portraying lead O.J. Simpson. When talking about his preparation for the film Cuba revealed that there is constantly new material to study up on. He explained, “it [was] a minutia of watching tapes and reading interviews and watching the video. Usually, when you prepare for a role, you can spend weeks or months and then when you do it, you’re pretty much in it. But this is like, everyday, they’re like, ‘Oh, [he] did a workout video…Everyday there’s something.”
Since Brad Falchuk and Ryan Murphy of American Horror Story are executive producing the show, it’s no surprise that Sarah Paulson will also be featured in the series (as she is a main fixture in AHS). Sarah is playing Marcia Clark, who was the head prosecutor in the murder case.
To add to the series’ appeal, it will also be showcasing Robert Kardashian and Kris Jenner [Kris Kardashian at the time]’s roles in the whole trial. Robert, who is played by David Schwimmer, was a good friend of O.J. and aided his defense team during the trial. Actress Selma Blair will be playing Kris, who has previously revealed that Robert’s perspective and involvement in the trial was a source of tension in their marriage (which ultimately ended in divorce).
In addition, some other notable names that will be featured in the show include Connie Britton (American Horror Story), Sterling K. Brown (Person of Interest), Kenneth Choi (Sons of Anarchy), Christian Clemenson (CSI: Miami), Nathan Lane (Modern Family) and John Travolta (Grease).
The series is set to become an anthology just as with American Horror Story, which has been a huge hit for FX. Thus, after the first season covering the O.J. trial, subsequent seasons will feature other notable crime cases from American history.
The first full trailer for the series plays up the familiarity that most people have with the case. As the phrases “You saw the chase…you watched the trial…But you don’t know the half of it” flash across the screen, the show recreates many scenes that people will remember from the real “Trial of the Century.”
From the get-go, we see the huge response from Americans that this case received. The trailer shows O.J. swarmed by media, police, and others protesting their personal opinions on the case, as he enters the courtroom.
While there are some familiar plotlines, there are also glimpses into elements of the situation that the public has never seen. First, Sarah Paulson showcases the struggles that attorney Marcia Clark had getting involved in such a high-profile case. Afterward, we see Robert Kardashian waiver between helping his friend, O.J., and staying true to his wife, who was a close friend of one of the murdered victims (Nicole). Therefore, from the trailer it seems that the show will try and capture the perspective of both the defense and the prosecutor.
Lastly, the trailer shows Travolta’s character referring to what was believed to be a suicide note written by Simpson saying, “who the hell signs a suicide note with a happy face?”
Overall, the show looks really interesting, and it is undoubtedly developing enough hype to secure a healthy audience for its debut in 2016. It will be intriguing to see how the different characters are depicted, as this case was so controversial and it is hard to keep opinions out of telling a story that left people with so many unknowns.
In addition, I look forward to seeing whether or not the Kardashian clan will solicit much discussion over the series as obviously their family was hugely affected by the trial. However, it also seems to still be a touchy subject with the famous family, especially with Kris, who struggled trying to see eye-to-eye with her husband at the time (Robert Kardashian). Also, it will undoubtedly be tough for Robert’s kids (Kim, Khloe, Kourtney, and Rob) to watch (if they decide to), as they lost their father to cancer back in 2003.
American Crime Story: The People V. O.J. Simpson debuts on FX on February 2, 2016.